Comox Valley Record, April 27, 2012

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April 27, 2012

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Vol. 27 No. 34

COMOX VALLEY RECORD Your community. Your newspaper. www.comoxvalleyrecord.com

fightback.ca

Body probably missing woman

MEET THE PREMIER REMIER

Erin Haluschak

Outdoorsman Ralph Shaw meets Christy Clark. ■ A10

Record Staff

BUDGET CRITICIZED

PREMIER CHRISTY CLARK announced Thursday the new Comox Valley Hospital will go in at the intersection of Lerwick and Ryan roads by North Island College. MLA Don McRae liked what he heard. PHOTO BY RENÉE ANDOR

New hospital will be near NIC Renée Andor

The plans for procurement will begin right away. We think we will be able to have shovels in the ground at the beginning of the new year next year. We want to see this hospital built as quickly as we possibly can.

Record Staff School District 71 expects to face a $1.3-million to $1.7-million shortfall in its 2012/2013 annual budget. SD71 director of finance Ron Amos said the Ministry of Education is still making some program funding adjustments, causing the half-million difference in the estimated shortfall. However, either way there will be a shortfall of over $1 million in the budget, and the district will have to make spending adjustments.

... Complete story on ■ A3

FINDER ■ Weather

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Premier Christy Clark announced Thursday the new Comox Valley Hospital will be by North Island College and construction is estimated to begin in early 2013. The 153-bed hospital is expected to cost about $334 million and be completed in 2017. It will be jointly funded by the provincial government (60 per cent) and the Comox-Strathcona Regional Hospital District (40 per cent). Clark said now that the location at Lerwick and Ryan Roads has been chosen, no time will be wasted in starting the project. “The plans for procurement will begin right away,” said Clark during the announcement at NIC. “We think we will be able to have shovels in the ground at the beginning of the new year next year. We want to see this hospital built as quickly as we possibly can.” Specific designs won’t be avail-

BRIAN

Christy Clark

able until further along in the planning process, but the hospital is expected to include three buildings for acute care, clinical support and parking. Campbell River will receive an estimated $266 million 95-bed hospital at the current site of the Campbell River and District General Hospital with the same estimated start and finish dates. CSRHD chair Claire Moglove noted some Comox Valley and Campbell River residents’ concerns regarding the locations of

the hospitals and the decision to have two hospitals instead of one larger one for the communities to share. “There may still be some who say that the outcome of two new hospitals is not the right solution or that one or both of the locations is not the best, but there is no perfect answer,” said Moglove. “I truly believe that the model we now have … will provide a significantly improved level of care for patients, greatly enhanced technical improvements and improve working conditions for the medical staff, professionals, for many, many years to come.” The previously announced site for the Comox Valley Hospital on Ryan Road across from Crown Isle was nixed due to height restrictions on buildings. That location was chosen just over a year ago but was within an area around CFB Comox and the Comox Valley Airport that restricts the height of structures to nine metres. Clark noted that the location ... see TRAFFIC ■ A2

A body found Wednesday evening by Comox Valley RCMP at the base of Mount Washington near the car of missing Saanich woman Shirley Burstall is believed to be her body. RCMP Staff Sgt. Andrew Isles said around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, RCMP were temporarily shutting down their command post before resuming the search for the 75-year-old, when their police dog picked up a scent. That led to the discovery of an elderly woman about a kilometre from where her car was located. Isles confirmed Thursday the case is now in the hands of the coroner. “We got a lot of information after talking with the family (Wednesday night) and have some information about the jewelry (Burstall) was wearing and some personal items she had on her,” he said. “We’re pretty certain, as much as we can be without a formal autopsy, that it is Ms. Burstall.” Burstall’s car was found April 23 in the early-afternoon hours afternoon on a road off of the Strathcona Parkway leading to Mount Washington, prompting an extensive search for the woman, who was last seen April 5 at a Ladysmith gas station. She had spent the previous five days in Chemainus. Tuesday, Paul Berry, manager/ president of the Comox Valley Ground Search and Rescue team, said a team of searchers scoured ground and water to determine Burstall’s direction of travel. “It is not uncharacteristic for her to hike, but it’s not the sort of area she would have hiked in,” he said. ... see MISSING ■ A8

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